Agree with the strategy of acquisition of rentals for passive income down the road. If done carefully it can be rewarding and you guys seem to be going about it in the right manner with an eye on cash flow. Your big risk is depreciation but if the goal is for passive income later in life, you seem to understand what is happening.
The financing is the tricky part though. Lenders (at least in my experience) are harsh on rental income. As you guys know they basically use 75% of it. Harsher though is that many lenders consider seasoning important. That is, if you purchased a home and are renting it out, they may not consider ANY of the rental income unless you have that home declared on your taxes. Some lenders may even want 2 years worth of seasoning! Again, I am not rock solid on this information.
Anyone who has found a lender with less stringent seasoning requirements, if you could speak up that would be helpful.
